The Ninja Games
by Ziggy of the Uchiha Clan
Summary: Continuation of the story 'The Ninja Games' posted on my old account (PsyMama17) Some dude hacked my account. so there; I'm posting the continuation through my new account!


**Hey guys. This is Psy-chan (PsyMama17) and I have news. My account has been hacked and I can't access into it. I tried changing the password but I forgot my email's password. -_- This is my new account and I'll be posting the continuation of my unfinished stories from here.**

**To read chapter 1-7 of 'The Ninja Games' go to my old profile 9PsyMama17)**

**Enjoy!**

**CHAPTER 8**

I pushed the memory of Itachi standing so close to me away from my mind. I ignored the blush on my face whenever the air conditioner blew a breeze over my face and reminded me of Itachi's breath fanning my face. I refused to let the tingly feeling from earlier resurface again.

Stupid Uchiha. Stupid, cocky, no-good, annoying but hot Uchiha! Argh!

I cursed as I scraped myself with one of the rocks with which I was trying to make a fire with. The instructor chided me and demonstrated the proper way to me. I really didn't need this because I already knew how to make a fire and just what size I should make; my dad had taught me when I was young. But right now, I was doing everything I can to get my mind of off things.

Itachi had caught me off guard. He was so close to me, so very close to me . . . and that is really, really bad for me. If he had me off guard that way in the arena, I'd be dead in a minute, no, a second. My guard was never ever down, not even when I wanted it to be. So why was I this way? That too with Itachi, whom I barely know?

I caught a glimpse of the said Uchiha, who was over on the other side of the room with another instructor who was teaching him some basic traps; like he didn't know that already! I glared at him; how on earth does he do what he does to me?! How does he possess that ability to control me at will? Was it a Genjutsu? I hoped so . . . because I don't want to believe that my treacherous heart is responsible for this.

Hiro was sitting lazily on his belly next to me. Hotaru, on the other hand, was barking and making weird doggish faces (sticking out his tongue, snarling, barking) at the camera. I chuckled quietly to myself; I wonder what the audience must be thinking of Hotaru right now. They might think he's just a goofy dog but wait till they see him in action. I bet mom and Kiba are laughing at him too.

My heart ached as I thought of home. I looked away from the camera. I wrapped my arms around my torso. It hurt to think of my family, whom I may not return to if I lost. And losing didn't simply mean failure, it meant death.

I knew that I was tough; it wasn't words of encouragement, it was the truth. I had a hard childhood, not to mention the fact that I grew up in a poverty-stricken area where survival was second nature to people like me. On top of that my dad had trained me well; being the first born, he felt I had to know everything about surviving as I would have to take over as head of the family should anything happen to him. It paid off after he died and left us.

Maybe, just maybe, I could come through all of this?

There was a loud explosion and I immediately turned to see what it was; so did everyone else. A giant explosion had taken place in the weight lifting area and some of the instructors were rapidly performing hand seals for a water style ninjutsu to put out the fire. Some of the tributes were watching in amusement or in surprise. Some watched with fear in their eyes. The boy from Iwa, Deidara I think, was walking away from the scene. Even from the distance, I could see his malicious smirk.

I shivered and hugged myself tighter; I was a goner. But there were no room for negative thoughts. I needed all the support I could get; even if it was from my broken family, my perverted instructor and my pathetic self.

"Hana-san, are you ill?" the instructor in front of me said as he frowned at me. I turned away from the explosion site and into the blue eyes of my instructor. I shook my head, "I'm fine, sensei. I'm just . . . a bit apprehensive I guess. You know, with everyone watching and all."

The instructor nodded slowly, "well, let me know if you're not feeling well. I'll call for the medics and you can leave."

I nodded back and thanked him as I stood up and headed for the shuriken practice area. Hiro and Hotaru followed me immediately. I was tempted to fake my illness just so I could get away from the watching eyes of the tributes and the public but that would do me no good. I won't get any sponsors that way as the people will think I'm weak, I'll worry my family who would be watching and also, I had to stick around to analyze and observe the other tributes. It was a matter of life and death after all.

I felt someone watching me and I turned to look around. My eyes clashed with someone's onyx ones. I found myself drowning in Itachi's mystifying eyes. Yes, mystifying. Despite the distance between us, I could see his eyes held so much pain and behind it all, I could tell that there were so many secrets and emotions which were dying to come out but were held back by a barrier.

For a moment, I thought I saw concern flicker in his eyes. Then it went back to his usual onyx pools of mystery.

I turned away and started to walk towards the shuriken practice area. I clenched my fists and increased my pace. The Haimaru twins, confused, sped up their pace as well to keep up with me. I couldn't let him manipulate me with just a glance. Perhaps it _was_ really a Genjutsu. Nevertheless, I couldn't allow it anymore. I shall consider this as training; training to not fall under what ever magic Itachi was using. Two can play at that game . . .

I stopped in my tracks. I turned on my heels and started to make my way towards Itachi. The Haimaru twins followed me; I could sense that they were confused by my actions. However, I just kept walking. Itachi saw me approaching and raised an eyebrow at me. I stopped right in front of him.

"I thought I told you we should train separately." Itachi said flatly.

"You did," I replied coolly. I then noticed the tributes of Oto snicker at us and the tributes of Kumo look at us with disgust. This angered me and for a moment, I put what I really came for in the back of my mind. "I really don't like how these tributes are looking at us."

"And how _are_ they looking at us?" Itachi questioned.

"Like we're a pound of meat," I hissed. "And they are the hungry tigers."

"Not everyone is looking at us."

"You know what I mean!"

There was a brief silence before Itachi spoke, "That Iwa ninja. He is responsible for the explosion."

I scoffed quietly, "I thought so. Was it a paper bomb?"

Itachi frowned, "No it wasn't. He was . . . molding something in his hands. He placed it on the bench and walked away. Five seconds later, the explosion took place."

I growled, "What type of explosive does he use?"

Itachi shook his head, "I don't know but by the looks of it, it's deadly."

"Use a Jutsu," I told him. "Like I said, I don't like how they're looking at us. Show them that you're not a weakling."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, "I thought you were the one who said we should lay low."

I clenched my fists, "If it makes you happy, I'll perform a Jutsu myself."

"That's not what I meant," Itachi said shaking his head. "There is no need for us to prove ourselves; let it be."

"Why?" I questioned.

"It's not worth it," Itachi replied. "Wait till the fight begins."

"Well you should know I'm an impatient person." I told him stubbornly.

Itachi sighed, "Just leave it."

I was about to say something but Itachi simply shook his head and started to walk away from me. I watched him go. Was he looking out for me? Did he worry that the other tributes may plan my death after I demonstrated a Jutsu of mine? Does he actually . . . care?

I shook my head; he was doing it again. I then remembered the real purpose of walking towards him. I ran towards him and turned him around to face me. Before he could react, I placed a swift kiss on his cheek and started to walk away.

He was right. There was no need to be reckless. I guess I just had to hold it in until the games begin. Also, I was quite impressed with myself with what I just did.

Hiro and Hotaru must have been beyond confused because they gave me quizzical looks as I walked pass them. I suppressed the blush daring to rise to my face and walked towards the practice area. The Haimaru twins followed behind after a few seconds.

Game on Uchiha Itachi.

There was no one at the shuriken practice area right now except for the female tribute from the rain village, Konan, who was near the window, staring out into the rain. I had a feeling that though she wasn't training or doing anything, she would win the audience over with her beauty and mysteriousness. I wish I had that power.

I turned away from her and again, I felt someone watching me but this time, from above. I looked at the ceiling to see the male tribute from Ame, Yahiko, staring at me with his intelligent brown eyes. Once he met my gaze, he immediately disappeared elsewhere. That was odd.

I got a weapons pouch from one of the instructor and he told me to attack the dummies and not people. I resisted the urge to scoff; like I didn't know that. I, nevertheless, nodded and thanked him. He gave me a dry smile and walked away.

I pulled out three shuriken and I was about to throw them when I heard someone speak.

"That's my shuriken bitch!" a female voice hissed. I froze. Was she talking to me? If she was, she was in for it for calling me a bitch.

"Yeah right; this is mine, go get your own loser!" another female voice retorted. I let out a small sigh and turned to see who were fighting. The girl from Oto and Kumo were having an argument. The girl from Oto proudly held three shurikens in one hand and had placed the other hand on her hip. She glared coldly at the girl from Kumo.

The girl from Kumo was also glaring equally hard at the Oto girl. Her wild and frizzy red hair seemed like menacing flames as she gripped a kunai in one hand. The male tributes from both Oto and Kumo watched them, amused. So did some of the other tributes.

The Kumo girl lunged herself at the Oto girl while the Oto girl took a fighting stance. Immediately, four instructors stepped in to stop the fight. The boy from Kumo held back the furious redhead while the Oto boy placed a hand on the shoulder of the fuming female tribute from his village.

"I thought I made it very clear," the instructor, Genma, said as he glared at the two females. "No fighting other tributes!"

"That little wench over there stole my shuriken!" The girl from Kumo exclaimed.

"Me? Go to hell; these are mine! It's your fault for being such a careless bitch!" The Oto female snapped back. Both parties struggled in the arms of the male tribute from their respective villages while the instructors tried to separate them.

I shook my head; such hotheads. Keeping Kakashi's advice in mind, maybe I could use their short temper to my advantage. I turned back to the dummies in front of me and I noticed that Konan was smirking softly, bringing more beauty to her usually emotionless face. I also noticed she was looking at the ceiling.

I was confused. I followed her gaze and looked up at the ceiling. Yahiko was grinning like a student who had just played a prank on his teacher. He was standing on the ceiling using only his feet; this kid had good chakra control. In his hands were something pointy and shiny; the missing shurikens of the girl from Kumo. I smirked; what an interesting kid.

An alarm went off in my head. Yahiko was small but he was fast. But he didn't seem very strong. So what? He could easily sneak around and cause trouble among the tributes like he did right now and render them helpless. The kid seemed to be an expert in snooping around. Maybe he could emerge as victor just by playing childish pranks.

But he seemed harmless. Then again there're more to everything and everyone that what meets the eye. Plus, the other ninjas may be smart enough to catch him and kill him. Also there is survival. He could die from lack of food, warmth, wild animals or from an injury. Maybe no one would be able to catch him but there were other things that could get to him and cause his demise.

For some reason, I didn't want Yahiko to die. I kept telling myself that it was because he was just a kid and that it wasn't fair to them-like it wasn't fair to the girl from Yuki-and not because he reminded me of Kiba.

I pushed the image of my smiling younger brother in the back of my mind. One time, my dad had squeezed a handful of berries in his hand to make some berry juice to pack for our hunting trip in the woods; right now, my heart felt like those berries.

I practiced my shuriken throwing. I hit the bull's eye on three of the five targets and the other two I had missed but I had come close. I could tell that people were watching me. Some scoffed like they were saying _'Anyone can do that!' _while others simply observed each and every one of the tributes; including me.

I didn't like being categorized as weak but maybe it was for the best. There was a tribute from Yuki, his name was Haku, who looked like a girl and behaved like an innocent child who didn't know anything. He neither trained nor did he even make an effort. He simply stayed in the shadows, hugging his knees and covering his face. No one bothered to even consider him as a threat and labeled him as weak

What no one knew was that during that time, hiding in the shadows, he was planning, observing and laying out his strategy. When the games started and it was down to the last five, he was one of the tributes. He turned out to be a deadly killing machine with his unstoppable Ice-style ninjutsu, his kekkei genkai. He came close to victory but in the end he didn't make it.

Maybe I could do what Haku did; lay it low and have the other tributes off my trail and then show my true potential in when the fight gets really ugly. But Haku had pulled it off once and people may not fall for the same trick twice. Maybe some of the other tributes might be thinking of the same idea as me and planning on using it as a trump card. Maybe it wouldn't work. But who knows?

The rest of the day went by as a blur. I got bits and pieces of information which I needed; the Kumo tributes were experts with swords of all kinds and had high temper, like Kakashi said, particularly the girl.

The Iwa tributes were suspicious. I knew that that boy, Deidara, used some kind of explosive; maybe that was his Jutsu style. The girl didn't show any of her ninjutsu, however, I'd seen her practice enough to know that she was skilled with weapons and close hand combat.

The Oto tributes simply practiced shuriken like me and I noted that the boy, who had six arms, had excellent aim. The girl, however, only used shuriken two times and the rest of her target practice was done with senbons. No sound ninjutsu revealed yet.

The Kiri tributes and Konan were still a mystery to me as they didn't do much. Yahiko, I learned, was quick on his feet and was also talented in setting traps and making fires. So much for dying due to natural calamities.

The Suna tributes didn't do much either. They simply sat watching, observing. However, I could tell their Jutsus would be associated with that fan and the bandaged object which the girl and boy carried respectively.

The Yuki tributes didn't do much except sit at the back of the room and watch. I knew that I should keep an eye on them as well; who knows? They could be planning and laying out battle strategies just like Haku. But a gut feeling told me that even if they did want to make an effort to fight in the games, they wouldn't be able to think of a good battle strategy that would work against the other tributes.

Genma told us we could have a ten minute break. I immediately headed for the exit; staying in that room made me feel stuffy and suffocated. I wanted to be out in the cold rain and fresh air, away from all the eyes of the people in that room.

I pushed the doors open and greet the heavenly showers with a sigh.

**It's kinda short, I know. I'll try adding more Kakashi and ItaHana in the next chapter. The next chapter will be the preparation for the interview! Read and review folks!**


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